MOVEMENT TIP: The Strict Muscle-Up

The Strict Muscle-Up is an impressive skill by anyone's standards - take a look at this video of CrossFit Seminar Staff member Julie Foucher, demonstrating the strict muscle-up. Not only does this movement require a lot of upper body strength, but it also needs a fair degree of shoulder mobility to move through the deeper than usual ring dip position.

The muscle up can broadly be divided into three sections:
1) The chest to bar pull
2) The transition
3) The Ring Dip

The range of motion for the pull-up and ring dip are more than would normally be done for those movements, so if you are training towards a muscle up, then make sure when you train these movements, you train the full range of motion you will need for the muscle-up.

To make it a little easier when you start out, support some of your bodyweight by having your feet or toes on the ground or a box as you work through the movement.

Points Of Performance

• Rings set approximately shoulder-width apart


• False grip on the rings


• Start with arms extended


• Pull rings to sternum as torso leans back


• Move the chest over the rings, hands and elbows stay close to the body


• Complete at full arm extension at support position